Reachability in arborescence packings. - In: Discrete applied mathematics, ISSN 1872-6771, Bd. 320 (2022), S. 170-183
Fortier et al. proposed several research problems on packing arborescences and settled some of them. Others were later solved by Matsuoka and Tanigawa and by Gao and Yang. The last open problem is settled in this article. We show how to turn an inductive idea used in the latter two articles into a simple proof technique that allows to relate previous results on arborescence packings. We prove that a strong version of Edmonds’ theorem on packing spanning arborescences implies Kamiyama, Katoh and Takizawa’s result on packing reachability arborescences and that Durand de Gevigney, Nguyen and Szigeti’s theorem on matroid-based packing of arborescences implies Király’s result on matroid-reachability-based packing of arborescences. Further, we deduce a new result on matroid-reachability-based packing of mixed hyperarborescences from a theorem on matroid-based packing of mixed hyperarborescences due to Fortier et al.. Finally, we deal with the algorithmic aspects of the problems considered. We first obtain algorithms to find the desired packings of arborescences in all settings and then apply Edmonds’ weighted matroid intersection algorithm to also find solutions minimizing a given weight function.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dam.2022.05.018
Good acyclic orientations of 4-regular 4-connected graphs. - In: Journal of graph theory, ISSN 1097-0118, Bd. 100 (2022), 4, S. 698-720
An st-ordering of a graph G=(V,E) is an ordering v1,v2,…,vn of its vertex set such that s=v1,t=vn and every vertex vi with i=2,3,…,n-1 has both a lower numbered and a higher numbered neighbor. Such orderings have played an important role in algorithms for planarity testing. It is well-known that every 2-connected graph has an st-ordering for every choice of distinct vertices s,t. An st-ordering of a graph G corresponds directly to a so-called bipolar orientation of G, that is, an acyclic orientation D of G in which s is the unique source and t is the unique sink. Clearly every bipolar orientation of a graph has an out-branching rooted at the source vertex and an in-branching rooted at the sink vertex. In this paper, we study graphs which admit a bipolar orientation that contains an out-branching and in-branching which are arc-disjoint (such an orientation is called good). A 2T-graph is a graph whose edge set can be decomposed into two edge-disjoint spanning trees. Clearly a graph has a good orientation if and only if it contains a spanning 2T-graph with a good orientation, implying that 2T-graphs play a central role. It is a well-known result due to Tutte and Nash-Williams, respectively, that every 4-edge-connected graph contains a spanning 2T-graph. Vertex-minimal 2T-graphs with at least two vertices, also known as generic circuits, play an important role in rigidity theory for graphs. Recently with Bessy and Huang we proved that every generic circuit has a good orientation. In fact, we may specify the roots of the two branchings arbitrarily as long as they are distinct. Using this, several results on good orientations of 2T-graphs were obtained. It is an open problem whether there exists a polynomial algorithm for deciding whether a given 2T-graph has a good orientation. Complex constructions of 2T-graphs with no good orientation were given in work by Bang-Jensen, Bessy, Huang and Kriesell (2021) indicating that the problem might be very difficult. In this paper, we focus on so-called quartics which are 2T-graphs where every vertex has degree 3 or 4. We identify a sufficient condition for a quartic to have a good orientation, give a polynomial algorithm to recognize quartics satisfying the condition and a polynomial algorithm to produce a good orientation when this condition is met. As a consequence of these results we prove that every 4-regular and 4-connected graph has a good orientation, where, as for generic circuits, we may specify the roots of the two branchings arbitrarily as long as they are distinct. We also provide evidence that even for quartics it may be difficult to find a characterization of those instances which have a good orientation. We also show that every graph on n≥8 vertices and of minimum degree at least has a good orientation. Finally we pose a number of open problems.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jgt.22803
Generalized boundary triples, II : some applications of generalized boundary triples and form domain invariant Nevanlinna functions. - In: Mathematische Nachrichten, ISSN 1522-2616, Bd. 295 (2022), 6, S. 1113-1162
The paper is a continuation of Part I and contains several further results on generalized boundary triples, the corresponding Weyl functions, and applications of this technique to ordinary and partial differential operators. We establish a connection between Post's theory of boundary pairs of closed nonnegative forms on the one hand and the theory of generalized boundary triples of nonnegative symmetric operators on the other hand. Applications to the Laplacian operator on bounded domains with smooth, Lipschitz, and even rough boundary, as well as to mixed boundary value problem for the Laplacian are given. Other applications concern with the momentum, Schrödinger, and Dirac operators with local point interactions. These operators demonstrate natural occurrence of ES$ES$-generalized boundary triples with domain invariant Weyl functions and essentially selfadjoint reference operators A0.
https://doi.org/10.1002/mana.202000049
Linear port-Hamiltonian systems are generically controllable. - In: IEEE transactions on automatic control, ISSN 1558-2523, Bd. 67 (2022), 6, S. 3220-3222
The new concept of relative generic subsets is introduced. It is shown that the set of controllable linear finite-dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems is a relative generic subset of the set of all linear finite-dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems. This implies that a random, continuously distributed port-Hamiltonian system is almost surely controllable.
https://doi.org/10.1109/TAC.2021.3098176
Funnel MPC with feasibility constraints for nonlinear systems with arbitrary relative degree. - In: IEEE control systems letters, ISSN 2475-1456, Bd. 6 (2022), S. 2804-2809
We study tracking control for nonlinear systems with known relative degree and stable internal dynamics by the recently introduced technique of Funnel MPC. The objective is to achieve the evolution of the tracking error within a prescribed performance funnel. We propose a novel stage cost for Funnel MPC, extending earlier designs to the case of arbitrary relative degree, and show that the control objective as well as initial and recursive feasibility are always achieved - without requiring any terminal conditions or a sufficiently long prediction horizon. We only impose an additional feasibility constraint in the optimal control problem.
https://doi.org/10.1109/LCSYS.2022.3178478
A vectorization scheme for nonconvex set optimization problems. - In: SIAM journal on optimization, ISSN 1095-7189, Bd. 32 (2022), 2, S. 1184-1209
In this paper, we study a solution approach for set optimization problems with respect to the lower set less relation. This approach can serve as a base for numerically solving set optimization problems by using established solvers from multiobjective optimization. Our strategy consists of deriving a parametric family of multiobjective optimization problems whose optimal solution sets approximate, in a specific sense, that of the set-valued problem with arbitrary accuracy. We also examine particular classes of set-valued mappings for which the corresponding set optimization problem is equivalent to a multiobjective optimization problem in the generated family. Surprisingly, this includes set-valued mappings with a convex graph.
https://doi.org/10.1137/21M143683X
Aggregation of demand-side flexibilities: a comparative study of approximation algorithms. - In: Energies, ISSN 1996-1073, Bd. 15 (2022), 7, 2501, S. 1-14
Traditional power grids are mainly based on centralized power generation and subsequent distribution. The increasing penetration of distributed renewable energy sources and the growing number of electrical loads is creating difficulties in balancing supply and demand and threatens the secure and efficient operation of power grids. At the same time, households hold an increasing amount of flexibility, which can be exploited by demand-side management to decrease customer cost and support grid operation. Compared to the collection of individual flexibilities, aggregation reduces optimization complexity, protects households' privacy, and lowers the communication effort. In mathematical terms, each flexibility is modeled by a set of power profiles, and the aggregated flexibility is modeled by the Minkowski sum of individual flexibilities. As the exact Minkowski sum calculation is generally computationally prohibitive, various approximations can be found in the literature. The main contribution of this paper is a comparative evaluation of several approximation algorithms in terms of novel quality criteria, computational complexity, and communication effort using realistic data. Furthermore, we investigate the dependence of selected comparison criteria on the time horizon length and on the number of households. Our results indicate that none of the algorithms perform satisfactorily in all categories. Hence, we provide guidelines on the application-dependent algorithm choice. Moreover, we demonstrate a major drawback of some inner approximations, namely that they may lead to situations in which not using the flexibility is impossible, which may be suboptimal in certain situations.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en15072501
Checking the admissibility of odd-vertex pairings is hard. - In: Discrete applied mathematics, ISSN 1872-6771, Bd. 317 (2022), S. 42-48
Nash-Williams proved that every graph has a well-balanced orientation. A key ingredient in his proof is admissible odd-vertex pairings. We show that for two slightly different definitions of admissible odd-vertex pairings, deciding whether a given odd-vertex pairing is admissible is co-NP-complete. This resolves a question of Frank. We also show that deciding whether a given graph has an orientation that satisfies arbitrary local arc-connectivity requirements is NP-complete.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dam.2022.04.004
On the exactness of the ε-constraint method for biobjective nonlinear integer programming. - In: Operations research letters, ISSN 0167-6377, Bd. 50 (2022), 3, S. 356-361
The ε-constraint method is a well-known scalarization technique used for multiobjective optimization. We explore how to properly define the step size parameter of the method in order to guarantee its exactness when dealing with biobjective nonlinear integer problems. Under specific assumptions, we prove that the number of subproblems that the method needs to address to detect the complete Pareto front is finite. We report numerical results on portfolio optimization instances built on real-world data and show a comparison with an existing criterion space algorithm.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orl.2022.04.007
How much testing and social distancing is required to control COVID-19? : some insight based on an age-differentiated compartmental model. - In: SIAM journal on control and optimization, ISSN 1095-7138, Bd. 60 (2022), 2, S. S145-S169
In this paper, we provide insights on how much testing and social distancing is required to control COVID-19. To this end, we develop a compartmental model that accounts for key aspects of the disease: incubation time, age-dependent symptom severity, and testing and hospitalization delays; the model's parameters are chosen based on medical evidence, and, for concreteness, adapted to the German situation. Then, optimal mass-testing and age-dependent social distancing policies are determined by solving optimal control problems both in open loop and within a model predictive control framework. We aim to minimize testing and/or social distancing until herd immunity sets in under a constraint on the number of available intensive care units. We find that an early and short lockdown is inevitable but can be slowly relaxed over the following months.
https://doi.org/10.1137/20M1377783